United States Hunger and Poverty Facts 2008

World Hunger Education Service

Hunger in the United States

• In 2006, 35 million people, 10.9 percent of households, were food insecure at at least some time during the year. (USDA 2006)
• In 2006, 11 million people, 4.0 percent of U.S. households, had very low food security—meaning that the food intake of one or more adults was reduced and their eating patterns were disrupted at times during the year because the household lacked money and other resources for food.(USDA 2006)
• The typical food-secure household spent 31 percent more on food than
  the typical food-insecure household of the same size and household composition. (USDA 2006)
• Just over half of all food-insecure households participated in one or more of the three largest Federal food and nutrition assistance programs. (USDA 2006)
• The United States changed the name of its definitions in 2006 that eliminated references to hunger, keeping various categories of food insecurity.  This did not represent a change in what was measured.  Very low food insecurity (described as food insecurity with hunger prior to 2006) means that, at times during the year, the food intake of household members was reduced and their normal eating patterns were disrupted because the household lacked money and other resources for food. This means that people were hungry ( in the sense of "the uneasy or painful sensation caused by want of food" [Oxford English Dictionary 1971] for days each year. (USDA 2006)

Poverty in the United States

•  36.5 million Americans — roughly one in eight — live in poverty. Today’s poverty rate is higher than it was during the last recession. (CBPP 2007)
• 15.4 million Americans live in extreme poverty. In other words, their family’s cash income is less than half of the poverty line, or less than about $10,000 a year for a family of four. (CBPP 2007)
• 16 million low-income households either paid more for rent and utilities than the federal government says is affordable or lived in overcrowded or substandard housing. (CBPP 2007)
• 47 million Americans — more than one in every seven — did not have medical insurance. This number has risen every year. (CBPP 2007)

Programs to assist low income people

Perhaps the four principal programs that provide income and other assistance for poor people are the minimum wage, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, and Food Stamps.  Other important  programs, not discussed here, include Social Security, Medicaid, and the Woman’s, Infants, Children (WIC) program.

Minimum wage The United States enacts a minimum wage (as do individual states) that tries to establish a floor for what can be paid as a wage by firms.The minimum wage from 1998 to 2007 remained constant at  $5.15 (in contrast, the wage paid to federal workers was raised every year over that period). With inflation, this has meant a 26 percent decline in the real minimum wage over the period.  In 2006, the (official U.S.) poverty level for a family of 4 was $20,000.  With a 40 hour week, a family of 4 with one minimum wage earner would earn $10,300, only half of the poverty level.  In 2007, the minimum wage was increased, and goes up in steps to $7.25 in 2009, resulting one wage earner earnings of $14,500—still far below the poverty level. And although 13 million workers will receive  a $2.10 hourly raise, it is not indexed to inflation, which means that the real benefits will be eroded by inflation.

The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).  The Earned Income Tax Credit is the mechanism through which, by filing a tax return, low income people and families can receive an income supplement. For a family of four—husband and wife and two children—with one parent only earning the current minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, the annual family income would be $10, 712. This would qualify the family for a $4,290 earned income tax credit. (This is not enough unfortunately to get the family of four over the poverty line.) Along similar lines, the Child Tax Credit benefits families with incomes above $11,400 with an annual tax credit of up to $1000 per child. Studies have indicated that the range of eligible families not applying is between 18-25 percent (Holt 2006).

Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF)  In 1996, TANF replaced the Aid to Families with Dependent Children program, which had been in existence since 1935. The TANF program provides block grants to states to provide assistance to needy families.  States have discretion on how to use the funds. The number of TANF recipients fell substantially in the first five years of the program, in part due to a significant increase in the number of single parents who work, but also due to other factors, such as an inability of families to meet the regulations.  Studies of families that stop receiving TANF assistance show that 60 percent of former recipients are employed—typically at poverty-level salaries between $6 and $8.50 an hour—while 40 percent are not employed. Lack of available child care can well keep single mothers from working as required, for example.  Other factors that undermine TANF’s contribution to people’s security include a five-year time limitation on benefits;  permitting benefits to legal immigrants only 5 years after establishing legal immigration, and a declining level of real funding for the program (Coven 2005).

Food Stamps To receive food stamps, people’s net income must be below the poverty line (there are some exceptions). The average benefit per person is $21 per week, or $1 a meal, an amount which is extremely difficult to live on.  Families routinely find themselves with ‘more month than money.’ Approximately 21 million people receive food stamp benefits, about 57 percent of the 37 million people who live in poverty. Unfortunately, the food stamps do not have much buying power. Poor families in urban areas struggle to find healthy food because supermarkets are few and far between. In addition, junk food (chips, soda, candy) is often cheaper and more accessible than fresh fruits and vegetables. Those without transport must find ways to get to the larger markets and return home with their groceries. Food justice, i.e. access to healthy and affordable food is a continuing challenge for minority and low-income Americans.

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). 2007.  "Poverty and Hardship Affect Tens of Millions of Americans." http://www.cbpp.org/12-20-07pov.htm

Coven, Martha.  2005. “An Introduction to TANF.” The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.  http://www.cbpp.org/1-22-02tanf2.htm

Holt, Eric. 2006. “The Earned Income Tax Credit at Age 30: What We  Know.” The Brookings Institution. (2006). http://www3.brookings.edu/metro/pubs/20060209_Holt.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture.  Economic Research Service. Household Food Security in the United States, 2006  ERR-49

Wikipedia. 2008.  The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Responsibility_and_Work_Opportunity_Reconciliation_Act